The last semi-century and the future of turkish-chinese relations based on mutual respect and friendship Article by H.E. A. Emin Önen, Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey in Beijing, Written to Be Published on the Special Issue of the BRIQ* 28.10.2021
THE REPUBLIC OF TURKEY AND THE emphasize that I am honored and glad to be
people’ s Republic of China are the heirs of representing Turkey since 1 December 2017
two ancient civilizations at the two ends of – the day I assumed my duty as the Ambas-
the Silk Road. This year, we celebrate the 50th sador of the Republic of Turkey – in the most
anniversary of the establishment of diploma- populous country of the world and in such a
tic relations (1971) between the two states. In historical capital as Beijing.
fact, 50 years is a very short period of time, In this vein, I am pleased to clearly ob-
considering the deep-rooted history of both serve that the bilateral relations between the
civilizations and their interaction dating back two countries in various fields from economy
to many millennia. However, the momentum to trade, and from tourism to collaboration
gained especially since 2010, when our rela- in joint transportation projects have visibly
tions were upgraded to the level of “strategic improved in recent years, the contacts at all
cooperation”, is remarkable. levels and sectors have intensified, and our
At this point, I would especially like to cooperation on regional and global issues as
*Spots have been added by BRIQ.
well as our bilateral relations has been stren- pective on important international issues.
gthened. It is quite normal in the course of Turkish-Chinese cooperation has proven
history for these two dynamic powerhouses, to be based on solid foundations, especially
which have achieved a significant progress in difficult times. Turkey was one of the first
on their paths of development, to cooperate countries to provide much-needed medi-
even more. However, despite the breakthrou- cal supplies to China at the beginning of the
ghs observed in almost every field in the last Covid-19 outbreak in Wuhan; and when the
decade, the volume and level of our relations virus started to spread in Turkey in the midd-
are still far from reflecting their true potenti- le of 2020, this time China responded in the
al. This fact requires consideration and more same way. Afterwards, the Covid-19 vaccine
effort. “CoronaVac” produced in China, was used
and continues to be used for millions of our citizens in our national vaccination campa-
Turkish-Chinese cooperation has proven ign.
to be based on solid foundations, Despite the non-disappearance of the
especially in difficult times. pandemic from our lives, and the consequent
international travel restrictions and many other challenges, my colleagues at the Embassy
Undoubtedly, diplomacy pursued at the and I, are trying our best to advance the posi-
leaders level plays an important role in main- tive agenda of our bilateral cooperation, par-
taining the momentum in our rapidly deve- ticularly in the areas of culture and economy.
loping bilateral relations and in coordinating In line with this understanding, in last
our approaches towards complex regional May, we inaugurated Yunus Emre Institute’s
and global challenges. H.E. President Erdo- 59th branch in the world and the first center
ğan and H.E. President Xi held regular con- in China, in Beijing, in one of the world’s le-
sultations by phone calls throughout the year. ading cultural capitals. It is our pleasure that
They have exchanged views on regional and our Chinese friends show great interest in
global challenges, while continuing to make this center, which plays an important role for
joint decisions on issues of common interest. both communities to get to know each other
It is obvious that the close dialogue between better.
the two leaders will guide raising the profile On the other hand, we are also prepa-
of Turkish-Chinese strategic cooperation in ring to open our fourth Consulate General
the years to come. As a matter of fact, the visit in China in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan
of Foreign Minister H.E. Wang to Turkey in province. So, after Beijing, Hong Kong, Shan-
March 2021 and the meetings of H.E. Foreign ghai and Guangzhou, we will be represented
Minister Çavuşoğlu and Mr. Wang in Tash- in another rapidly developing and important
kent last July also pointed to this situation, region of China.
and have been very beneficial for Turkey and We are determined to revitalize our pe-
China to better understand each other’s pers- ople to people relations as soon as possible,
which were interrupted by the pandemic. Re- of the previous year and reached 2.4 billion
suming the reciprocal flights, whose number Dollars. Turkey’s exports of food and agricul-
was close to 50 per week in the pre-pandemic tural products to China increased by 112% in
period, increasing the number of flights and the first eight months of this year, reaching
the diversification of the destinations would 230 million Dollars. We aim that our exports
also elevate the number of Chinese tourists to China reach the highest level in our his-
– which reached a record-high level by inc- tory by the end of 2021. We also continue to
reasing to almost 600,000 in 2019 – visiting work on our plans to integrate Turkish export
our country and assist us in reaching our tar- products into China’s major e-commerce
get of “1 million Chinese tourists annually”. platforms to seize the opportunity offered by
Facilitating mutual visits would also pave the the new digital economies. In parallel, we en-
way for renewed educational and academic courage more Chinese origin investments in
contacts. Turkey. I see no obstacles to doubling or even
tripling our trade volume and mutual investments with the right planning, determination
Our countries, which are the natural and sincere cooperation.
heirs of the historical Silk Road, share We attach great importance to our rela-
the vision of integration through Eurasia tions with China also within the framework through comprehensive connectivity of our “Asia Anew” initiative, which was laprojects such as the “Middle Corridor”
and the “Belt and Road Initiative”. unched in 2019 and aims to deepen Turkey’s
relations with Asian countries and contribute to economic integration across the continent. In this vein, transportation corridors are
In 2020, our bilateral trade reached the of critical importance. Our countries, whi-
record level of approximately 26 billion Dol- ch are the natural heirs of the historical Silk
lars, making China the second largest trading Road, share the vision of integration through
partner of Turkey. Eurasia through comprehensive connectivity
On the other hand, we put great effort projects such as the “Middle Corridor” and
into keeping the economic and commercial the “Belt and Road Initiative”. As a part of this
ties between our countries as dynamic as pos- shared vision and as a tangible result of our
sible. In 2020, our bilateral trade reached the intense efforts to harmonize these two am-
record level of approximately 26 billion Dol- bitious projects, the first export freight train
lars, making China the second largest trading service from Turkey to China was launched
partner of Turkey. In line with our aim to sta- in December 2020. The train reached Xi’an
bilize the deficit in our bilateral trade, we are from Istanbul in just 12 days, following the
also taking important steps to increase our Trans-Caspian East-West Central Corridor
exports to China. In this context, in the first via the Kars-Tbilisi-Baku railway. Efforts are
8 months of 2021, our exports to China inc- underway to increase the number of these
reased by 45% compared to the same period freight trains in the upcoming period. Gre-
ater use of this rail link will enable Turkish citizens. I believe that the establishment of a
and Chinese products to be delivered to their constructive and result-oriented dialogue on
respective destinations more easily and qui- this matter, as in other aspects of our bilateral
ckly and will also make a great contribution relations, will positively affect our relations.
to eliminating the ongoing vulnerabilities in To summarize, the strong mutual politi-
global supply chains. cal will to develop our relations, manifested
especially in the last fifteen years, has been further strengthened by intense high-level
We celebrate the semicentennial political contacts, and paved the way for our
anniversary of our diplomatic relations, cooperation in many areas. It has been prowe should plan and gradually put into
practice the foundations of the steps to ven in the turbulent environment created by
be determined in the light of the the pandemic that our bilateral ties are built
“win-win” principle, which will ensure on strong foundations. Increasing high-level
the further deepening of the ties engagement at the political level and strengt-
between our two countries in the next 50 hening social contacts in many fields such as
years. tourism, culture, civil aviation, science and technology give us strong clues that the next half century will be much more valuable for The importance of the Xinjiang Uyghur
Autonomous Region of the People’s Repub- Turkey and China. Therefore, as we celebrate
lic of China for the Belt and Road Initiative the semicentennial anniversary of our diplo-
is enormous with its logistics, economic and matic relations, we should plan and gradually
cultural dimensions. A significant part of the put into practice the foundations of the steps
Uyghur Turks, who are one of the essential to be determined in the light of the “win-win”
elements of the Belt and Road geography, live principle, which will ensure the further dee-
in Turkey. Therefore, we attach special impor- pening of the ties between our two countries
tance that the Uyghurs and the other Turkic in the next 50 years.
peoples living in China, with whom we have Doubtlessly, it is not possible for any
undeniable linguistic, religious, historical and country to traverse the road to a prosperous
cultural ties, live in peace, security and pros- future alone. With this understanding, I ful-
perity as equal citizens, fully enjoying their ly believe that our relations will be carried
rights arising from national and international forward in the future in line with the interests
law, develop and transfer their culture to new of the people of the two countries. The dee-
generations, make the best use of the deve- pening and development of our relations will
lopment of the region and hence contribute to not only be beneficial for the welfare and de-
our relations with China. In our contacts with velopment of the people of the two countries,
the Chinese side, we regularly discuss the is- but also contribute to the peace, stability and
sues that we believe need more effort in this development of the region and the world.
regard, especially the ones related to Turkish